


These Bonds of Blood

by jokokekemato



Series: a freedom run [2]
Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Wolves, M/M, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 19:45:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3146381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jokokekemato/pseuds/jokokekemato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daehyun wants freedom, and Yongguk can give that. But Daehyun also wants security, and that is not something Yongguk can promise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Bonds of Blood

There are a lot of great things about being free of his collar and the tiny encampment that he had spent most of his life in. First of all, there was his pack. Every morning he wakes, nestled in with his five new brothers. The den is small but cozy and safe from the chill. The best hunters – Jongup and Himchan – teach him how to change directions quickly and how to use his hind legs to hurdle over fallen trees and where the best places to find prey were and how to sniff out animals without them knowing that he was there. Junhong runs with him every day to help build up his unused muscles and they would have competitions to see who could jump the highest, who could swim the longest, who could race the fastest. Yongguk and Youngjae are usually busy, assisting their pack with things that needed to be done, but when they have free time, teach him how to fight. It is all basic stuff, really, how to lunge forward and then skirt backward, where it would hurt the most to bite, how to protect his belly from sharp teeth. Daehyun is enthusiastic but unwilling to cause any real harm; Youngjae once told him that his blows were far too soft to kill even a rabbit. Yongguk is more sympathetic, but would often challenge him to try and knock him off his paws or take him by surprise. No matter what he did, from jumping out from behind a tree to running straight into him didn’t work. According to Junhong, the only person who had ever managed to take Yongguk by surprise was Youngjae, and that was only once, when Youngjae had been a half starved, vicious loner.

There are other little things that make wild life much better. Wind blowing in his face as he runs. The taste of hot, salty blood in his mouth as he bites into recently killed prey. The pride of returning to the den with a rabbit or a bird caught in his mouth, since he isn’t allowed to take part in the larger game hunting just yet. Grooming his pack mates after a long day. Having one of his pack mates groom him back. Knowing that his scent is slowly becoming incorporated into the general pack smell and that he is starting to smell like his pack too. Mostly, it’s the feeling of belonging. Being part of whatever the humans had been doing had deprived him of the very basic need of interacting with those of his kind, and now that he has the opportunity, he is relieved.

“Hah!” With a powerful leap of his hind legs, Daehyun cleared a bush that he had been hiding behind, aiming straight towards their leader, who had been sitting beneath a tree, cleaning one of his front paws. For a split second, he thinks that he will get the upper hand, but then Yongguk steps calmly out of the way, raising one heavy paw to bat him out of the air. A sharp nip to the muscle behind his back left leg has him yelping, skirting away, and then another paw shot out to hook around his two front paws and knock him over. Losing his balance, Daehyun fell on his side and then rolled onto his back, exposing his stomach and letting his tongue loll out of his mouth in submission. Jongup, who has just come back with fresh kill, barks his amusement. The alpha wolf blinks at him twice, slowly, before backing away and letting him scramble back to his feet.

“Good, Daehyun,” Yongguk growls, “but you leap unevenly, favouring your right side. It was easy to unbalance you because of that. And next time, don’t land heavy footed. Be ready to jump back if you need to.”

Daehyun, who is riled up from their tussle, growls back a playful warning before leaping again. The elder obviously thinks that he is about to try another leap and feints to the left, but Daehyun has already landed and instead runs straight at the larger wolf, barrelling into him and knocking them both to the ground. Their fight is short, with a lot of squealing on his side, but eventually Yongguk pins him to the ground again, warm muzzle pressed against his neck and a paw laid across his belly.

“Okay! You win!” He yelped, squirming and churning his legs a little. The alpha growls in amusement, nipping gently at his cheek before nudging him back to his feet. The rest of the pack had gathered to watch and as Daehyun slinks away, Himchan licks his ear.

“Don’t worry,” the other told him, “it’s almost impossible to beat Yongguk. There’s a reason we’re considered the strongest pack.”

Himchan’s condolences did nothing to soothe his very sore rump and his ego, but it was quickly forgotten as he settles down to nurse his wounded pride and Yongguk lies down beside him.

“You’re learning quickly.” The elder rumbles, taking it upon himself to begin licking Daehyun’s rumpled fur to clean out the little bits of leaves and dirt. “I wasn’t too sure when I first met you, but after seeing how much effort you put into getting out and how bravely you fought against the humans, I knew that I had made the right choice.”

It, truthfully, has never occurred to him that taking him into the pack was not a good choice. To him, it was inevitable – fate, if it was called that. He is meant to be with Yongguk and the pack, not stuck in the prison.

“I’m glad you did.” Daehyun lowers his head and nuzzles against the bigger males shoulder, sighing low in content as a rough tongue rasps over the top of his head. “It feels right to be out here. I hated being all by myself in the pen. It was lonely.”

Yongguk touched the tip of his nose to Daehyun’s ear, pressing his body against him for a split second. “I’m glad that I did too.”

. . .

“Jongup! Daehyun! To the left! Junhong, Himchan, and I to the right!” Barks of excitement fill the air as the pack runs in pursuit of a female moose, Yongguk leading. They had been following the herd for a few days and eventually chose her, who had split her hoof and could no longer keep up with the others anymore. It would be their second hunt on this particular group; two days ago, Jongup had chanced upon a lost calf and had brought it down by himself. It, however, had not been enough to tide them over for a long time and now they were to make their pack kill. It is Daehyun’s first time being allowed to take part in it, and his paws hit the ground hard and smooth as he races across the light powering of snow, Jongup by his side. The plan is to split off into two groups, attack from each side and while she is frightened, she would run straight into a ditch that he had found (by falling in) the day before.

Junhong and he are the fastest of the pack and they break away from their partners, gaining ground on the bleating animal. The younger takes the first jump, leaping with claws outstretched and jaw open. At the last second, she swerves and he can only manage to scrape his claws down her flank. The action, however, sends her running in his direction and with no thought other than to bring her down, Daehyun gathers his muscles and jumps.

It is an overly enthusiastic leap and, instead of grabbing her by her rump and dragging her down, he somehow finds himself on her back, paws scrambling wildly against her short fur. Daehyun is dislodged a few seconds later, falling to the ground with a thump, but as he regains his footing, he witnesses Himchan, who has caught up to them, lunge for a flailing leg and grab on. Yongguk streaks past him and locks his powerful jaws around the panicking female’s neck, dragging her down. Jongup is next and then he, too, is sinking his teeth into muscle hardened leg in order to subdue their prey. It takes a minute or two before her struggles stop and Yongguk growls in confirmation. Immediately, Daehyun lets go and backs away, panting hard from the exertion. His muzzle is streaked with blood and he rubs his face into the snow, taking a mouthful of the white stuff to soothe his throat. The alpha eats first and so Yongguk digs in, tearing at the claw marked flesh. His mouth is salivating, hungry and impatient to fill his stomach, but he waits beside Junhong until the alpha steps back and then everyone else moves forward. Daehyun buries his teeth into a chunk of meat, pulling viciously until it comes away from the rest of the corpse and he gulps it down. The moose is almost finished when he steps back, stomach too heavy. He had eaten too much, but none of them knew when they would find their next meal. Better to eat while he could.

The rest of the pack finishes soon after and they wait for a few minutes, stretching their muscles or simply resting. Coyotes have gathered at the tree line – young males, from the look of it – hungrily eying the remains of their meal. When Yongguk barks, they fall into line behind him and leave the carcass to the scavengers.

Daehyun hangs back a little, loping along beside Himchan, but the alpha beckons him forward with his tail and so he runs faster, bypassing the rest of the wolves so that he can run beside the bigger male.

“How was your first hunt?” Yongguk asks him, staring at him even as he jumps up onto a ledge, leading into the deeper parts of the wood. Daehyun attempts the same but instead finds his hind legs churning in thin air, unable to complete the vault. Teeth secure into his scruff and the elder hauls him up, grunting under his breath until all four feet are secure on the ground.

“Thanks.” He pants, licking the alpha’s shoulder in gratitude. Youngjae is close on his heels and almost falls back down when he attempts to stop himself from colliding into his rump, and Daehyun quickly backs away to make room for everyone else. Once all six of them are standing together, Yongguk continues running and Daehyun picks up on the question that had been asked before his embarrassing failure. “It was a lot of fun. Chasing the moose and bringing it down was really exciting. I want to do it again!” He bounces a little as they run, tail wagging happily as he thought of the thrill of the chase and getting to run with his pack. It made him feel like a real wolf, although he would never tell Yongguk that.

“Good. We will hopefully be on another hunt soon, before the moose cross the river.” On the other side of the river, where the moose where heading, was another pack of wolves territory. Once the herd had passed through there, they would be unable to hunt them.

“Yeah, I hope so.” He ran so close to the larger male that their fur brushed with every stride. With his stomach full, muscles strong and surrounded by his pack, Daehyun feels what true freedom is, and he wants it to last forever.

. . .

Winter comes and when it does, it hits fast. They wake one morning to a huge wall of snow blocking their den entrance and Junhong enthusiastically digs their way out, ignoring Himchan’s complaints as he wakes up. The cold wet stuff sprays in Daehyun’s face and he turns around, nuzzling his muzzle into Yongguk’s side, who is slowly waking up.

“Why is it so wet?” The alpha grumbled, stretching his jaws into a huge yawn. Whining a little, Daehyun shuffled forward until he could press his nose against the elder’s cheek, licking him enthusiastically. They had become closer over the weeks – sharing meals, running together, talking whenever they had the chance. Yongguk’s calmness and strength counteracted his energy and excitement, making them a strange but workable pair. As the large head swung towards his, he lowered his chin to the ground, making little sighs of content as a warm tongue swept over his ears twice. One side of him was freezing, from where Junhong has carved his way to the surface and buried him under a pile of snow, while the other is warm and pressed against the sturdy body beside him. Tongue lolling out, his tails thumps against the ground and he looks to Yongguk for permission to leave the den and romp outside, where it seems that Junhong has already disappeared to. A paw cuffs him over the ears as the alpha grunts in permission, already curling up back to sleep with a warning of ‘don’t get into trouble’.

It is beautiful outside. He has never experienced winter in its full force, when everything is covered in a blanket of white and there are strange looking spiky things hanging from tree branches. So much snow everywhere and Junhong and Jongup have already found a shallow slope nearby and were throwing themselves down it, rolling through the soft stuff. With an eager bark, Daehyun joins them, leaping through the whiteness. Some of it goes up his nose and he sneezes, much to the amusement of the others, who pounce on him. They wrestle, making tracks through the untouched layers, yipping and growling and whining until they become exhausted. Only then, panting hard to catch his breath, did he notice the absence of the sounds he had become familiar with.

“Where are all the squirrels and stuff?” He asks, dabbing one paw lazily into the snow, watching as it created a paw print.

“Sleeping. They sleep all winter and come out in the spring. Sometimes, when we climb trees, we find them.” Junhong answers, shaking white flecks from his coat. “A lot of the animals disappear when the snow comes, and we don’t eat much. But it’s okay. The moose usually pass through a few times.”

Back in his pen, there had always been food, no matter how cold it got. Even when he watched as the stupid racoon who waddled past his fence every day (no matter how much he barked) grow thinner, he stayed fat and healthy. He supposed that there at least was some benefits of the humans.

“Oh,” he stood up as well, bouncing back and forth on his feet, “then we should go find food! Imagine how happy Yongguk and Youngjae and Himchan will be if we come back with stuff for them to eat. Maybe Himchan will not moan as much.”

The other two agree that it was a great idea and soon after, they find a rabbit den with multiple holes leading in different directions. Wandering around aimlessly for a minute or two, Jongup finally suggests blocking most of the tunnels with snow and branches, leaving two open. Then, one of them would bark into one end and hopefully scare the rabbits into the waiting jaws of the other two.

They get it all set up, fill the holes with snow and little twigs before deciding on the two that they would leave unblocked. It’s an unbeatable plan, Daehyun thinks – until he starts barking and the rabbits simply barrel through the barriers of snow, scattering into the woods. He gives chase, of course, racing after one in particular that seems too fat to move fast. A huge bound puts him on top of it and he kills it by grasping it in his jaws and shaking it until its neck snaps. When he returns to the group, blood dripping from his catch, he finds that Junhong and Jongup had caught one too, by coming at it from either side. They’re not much, but if what Junhong said is true, they will need it.

Carrying their prizes back to the dorm, Daehyun proudly lays his at Yongguk’s feet, while the other two present it to a cranky Himchan.

“You caught this?” The alpha asks him, nosing the still-warm rabbit.

“Yeah. We could have caught more, but they were too smart for us.” He replied, still proud of what they had done. Youngjae emerges from the den, gives the fresh kill a short glance, and then lumbers off into the woods.

“You guys are great. We should go hunting later, right Yongguk?” Himchan has already crouched down, tearing into the succulent flesh. The alpha growls in agreement, moving over a little to invite Daehyun to share with him. He does, mindful of the fact that it was a gift to Yongguk and there isn’t much. Youngjae returns with a pheasant and Jongup and Junhong, who had been looking on mournfully, join him to eat that. When Daehyun is done, he rolls onto his side and playfully paws at the larger males tail, barking a laugh every time Yongguk twitches at his touch.

“Stop it!” Yongguk flicks his tail, whacking Daehyun in the face. It only makes him laugh harder.

. . .

It’s sometime in the dead of winter and Daehyun is too exhausted to move. The morning had consisted of chasing a herd of moose through their entire territory, none of which they had caught. Everyone had lost their plump and muscled figures, their coats hanging loose on their bodies. Even Jongup, who always looked so powerful, had seemed to lose the bulkiness.

“I’m tired, Yongguk.” He whimpered, pathetically stretching a paw out towards the elder, who was sitting at his side.

“I know, Daehyun. We’re all tired.” A nose buried into his side before a rough tongue began to lick his shoulder and face, soothing his weariness a little. Everyone else has also collapsed in various stages of sleepiness; Youngjae is grooming Himchan sleepily, Junhong and Jongup have already curled up together. “But thaw is coming soon, and all the animals will come back.”

Hot breath fans over his face and Daehyun turns his head to press his forehead to a strong shoulder, sighing a little when Yongguk stretches out beside him, side by side.

“I hope it’s soon,” he murmurs sleepily, “I really want a rabbit to eat. Or a moose. Even a fat squirrel would be nice.”

“Don’t talk about that.” Himchan groaned from his spot, eyes only half open. “I’m so hungry, I might eat Junhong.”

“Hey! Why eat me? Eat Daehyun!” Junhong protests.

“Hey!” He yipped back. “If I had enough energy, I would fight you right now!”

“And lose.” The younger wolf jeered back, tail wagging against the ground.

Yongguk coughed a sort of laugh, still covering Daehyun’s ears and fur in long licks, dislodging leaves and twigs and other debris. “We will have to see about that, Junhong,” the alpha says, “Daehyun’s becoming a great fighter.”

The compliment fills him with pride, baring his teeth at the now sulking wolf in victory. Yongguk’s next words are so quiet that only he can hear them. “But we’ll have to find food soon…I don’t know how any of us will last much longer.”

. . .

Two weeks later and Daehyun can see the signs of spring. The sharp pointy things on the branches (which he now knows are called icicles) are beginning to melt, and the snow becomes less of snow and more of a wet, slimy substance that’s cold and icky and Daehyun doesn’t really like. The river nearby has thawed in the center and they crack the ice still lingering on the edges, drinking the freezing liquid in huge gulps.

That day, he finds a squirrel – plump and sleepy, crawling from its hole in the tree. And then another. When he brings them back to their den, he finds that Yongguk has caught a rabbit and Jongup has four bird eggs. They eat well, for the first time in a long while, and Daehyun feels energy rushing through him; he has survived his first winter as a true wolf. Once he has finished scarfing down a squirrel and one of the eggs (which he doesn’t like at all) he notices Yongguk slipping away from the rest of the pack. Curious, he follows, slinking after the elder, making sure that he stays downwind in order to not attract attention.

Yongguk heads upward, shouldering through still snow covered bushes, until he disappears behind the foliage. Hesitating, Daehyun also scrambles through them. When he does, he finds that they are in a clearing of sorts – a hill high enough to look out on the surrounding woods. Up here, it is beautiful, all bright and shiny and new, like the snow scrubbed it clean.

“I know you’re there,” the alpha calls, amused, “you’re the only one that would follow me.”

Caught, he pads up to sit beside the bigger, pressing their sides together as they observe the landscape.

“It’s so pretty.” He breaths, turning towards Yongguk with bright eyes. “Is it always like this, when the snow melts?”

“Yes. I like to come up here because it reminds me that, even though we struggled through the winter, there are always good things coming if we just hold out a little bit longer.” It makes sense and he yips in agreement. Yongguk turns towards him, looking at him with a sort of calculating curiosity in his eyes. “Do you regret it? Joining us, now that you know how hard it is to live in the wild?”

The answer comes instantly.

“No. I’m much happier out here than I ever was in the pen. All the food and security…it was nice, but it’s great out here. And I love being in a pack. Having friends and brothers.” Pushing his nose against the alpha’s shoulder, he breathed in the scent of their strong leader, feeling happiness flow through him.

“Even me?” The elder asks, responding with a short lick to his cheek.

“Especially you.”

**Author's Note:**

> i still dont know how to use this site but oh well


End file.
